Microsoft launched its Surface RT tablet last month. Early rumors had hinted that the sales price of the tablet would be around $199, but that turned out to be untrue. The actual starting price for the Surface RT tablet was a actually $499. That made the tablet significantly more expensive than some competitors on the market, including the entry-level Apple iPad 2.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has stated that Surface RT tablets have had a "modest" start in sales. Ballmer doesn't attribute the modest sales to the starting price of the tablet; rather he blames limited availability.

"We've had a modest start because Surface is only available on our online retail sites and a few Microsoft stores in the United States," Ballmer was quoted as saying.

The Surface RT tablet runs a limited version of the new Windows 8 operating system and has Office productivity apps preinstalled.

Here’s one interesting tidbit about the new Surface RT tablets: even though they are currently available in 32GB or 64GB versions, the actual amount of storage space available to users is much less. The space taken up by the Windows operating system and preinstalled apps means that the 32GB version only leaves 16GB available to the end-user, while the 64GB version leaves behind 46GB.